I'm hoping that since Cameron hired actual writers to pen the sequels (or co-pen) that the the story warrants a new trilogy of films and that some risks will be taken in the story and not just the technology. Of course, this idea didn't work out too well for AOTC, so I guess we'll see.

Justin Kroll wrote:Twentieth Century Fox and director James Cameron announced today that the “Avatar” sequels have grown in number from two to three.

Cameron has hired screenwriters Josh Friedman (“War of the Worlds”), Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (“Rise of the Planets of the Apes”), and Shane Salerno (“Savages,” “Salinger”) to collaborate with him on the screenplays for “Avatar 2,” “Avatar 3″ and “Avatar 4.”

The three tentpoles will be filmed simultaneously with production beginning next year. The release of the first sequel will be in December 2016, with the second to follow in December 2017 and the third a year later.

Though Friedman is best known for writing on the TV show “The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Friedman’s attachment is just a coincidence since Cameron had nothing to do with the show even though he helped create the “Terminator” characters with Gale Anne Hurd.

Cameron is producing with his Lighthouse Entertainment partner Jon Landau. No release date has been set.

The first “Avatar” is the highest grossing film at the domestic and worldwide box office having earned more than $760 million domestically and $2.7 billion worldwide.

Nick Perry wrote:WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — James Cameron says his vision for his three "Avatar" sequels is to create a family epic in the mold of "The Godfather" that will introduce viewers to new cultures and go underwater on his fictional moon Pandora.

The director announced Monday he will be filming the sequels in New Zealand, where he shot the triple Academy Award-winning original. In an interview with The Associated Press, Cameron also talked about life on a New Zealand farm, where he's growing walnuts and allowing his children to roam.

Cameron, 59, said he plans to release the first sequel in 2016, seven years after the release of "Avatar," which has become the highest-grossing film in history with a box office take of nearly $2.8 billion.

He said a core team has been developing new software for the sequels even while he's been gone on other projects, including 18 months planning a 7-mile descent to the deepest part of the ocean, which he successfully completed last year.

"It's going to be a lot of new imagery and a lot of new environments and creatures across Pandora," he said. "We're blowing it out all over the place. At first I thought I was going to take it onto other worlds as well, in the same solar system, but it turned out not to be necessary. I mean the Pandora that we have imagined will be a fantasy land that is going to occupy people for decades to come, the way I see it."

Cameron said the films will explore different Na'vi cultures as well the cultures of other Pandora creatures.

"There's a fair bit of underwater stuff. It's been inaccurately said that the second film takes place underwater. That's not true," he said. "There are underwater scenes and surface-water scenes having to do with indigenous ocean cultures that are distributed across the three films."

He said water is enormously difficult to recreate on a computer, something he's been talking about with Joe Letteri, the visual effects supervisor at Weta Digital.

"I said Joe, you know, there's a lot of water," Cameron said. "And he basically said 'Bring it on. We're ready.'"

He said the first movie focused on the main character, Jake Sully.

"It was very Jake-centric. His story seen through his eyes," Cameron said. "We spread it around quite a bit more as we go forward. It's really the story of his family, the family that he creates on Pandora. His extended family. So think of it as a family saga like 'The Godfather.'"

Cameron said the theme of sustainability that runs through the "Avatar" series also extends to his personal life. He and fifth wife Suzy Amis bought a farm about 90 minutes' drive from Wellington where they spend some of the year with their three children. Cameron said he's putting in 650 walnut trees.

"There'll also be tree crops, grains, produce, it will be quite a mixed bag," he said. "But really, I think of it as an experimental station to look at various sustainable agriculture approaches."

A native of Canada, Cameron said the New Zealand farm feels like "closing a loop" after he spent summers on his grandfather's farm in southern Ontario.

"The kids love it here. They love that combination of freedom and responsibility that you get here because you can run freely," he said. "There are no predators and snakes and that sort of thing. We just let them go out with a walkie-talkie, and as long as they are back by dinner, we don't care where they are."

He said he plans to bring his own helicopter from California to help make the commute from the farm to Wellington when he's working on the movies.

Before then, he said, he'll be throwing a Christmas party for the community around his farm. He said about 95 people turned up last year but he worries that numbers could be down this year because it's going to be an all-vegan menu, a lifestyle his family recently adopted.

DAVID LIEBERMAN wrote:The Fox CEO made the disclosure in Fortune, which landed the first comprehensive interview he has given since 2009. (We’ll get to other revelations in a separate post.) He says that Fox plans to “step up our production of major films” and has “one or two or maybe more sequels to Avatar.” As of now, there are three sequels planned to be filmed back to back in New Zealand, with Avatar 2 set to release in December 2016. The subsequent sequels will follow in December 2017 and 2018, respectively. ”If we make it, it will be the first time [director] Jim Cameron’s been on time or on budget. But he’s never lost me. When he finally comes through, they’re just huge hits.” He adds that he’d like to hire DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider. “I’m a great admirer of her’s. And I’ve had long talks with her….It’s really for [Fox Studio chief] Jim Gianopulos to hire her.”

James acknowledged a few current filmmakers for their 3D experimentation, noting these directors weren't afraid of the unknown.

"The best work has been done by confident filmmakers like Ang Lee, Martin Scorsese and Alfonso Cuaron," he said.

"They are confident so they didn't worry about asking questions, and there are no dumb questions. Ask questions on day one and two and go nuts on day three."

James announced last August he is making three Avatar sequels, after deciding two instalments couldn't "capture everything".

Fox Studios also confirmed the movies will be filmed simultaneously beginning this year.

"In writing the new films, I've come to realise that Avatar's world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated, and it became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen," Cameron said in a statement.

Avatar 2 is slated for release in 2016, while parts three and four will reach theatres in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The thing is, my focus isn’t on Avatar 2. My focus is on Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5 equally. That’s exactly how I’m approaching it. They’ve all been developed equally. I’ve just finished the script to Avatar 5. I’m now starting the process of active prep. I’ll be working with the actors in the capture volume in August, so I’m booked in production every day between now and then. Our volume is up and running, and everything is designed, and so we’re going full-guns right now. I feel like I’ve been let out of jail, because I’ve been in the writing cave for the last two years. I’m actually enjoying life. I don’t enjoy writing. I wouldn’t wish writing on a dog.

The "Avatar" director let that bomb drop during a conversation with Huffington Post at an event at the recently-opened Titanic Museum in Belfast. Apparently Spielberg had purchased the rights to "Jurassic Park" only hours before Cameron tried to, meaning he had the daunting task of bringing Michael Crichton's novel to the big screen.

The rest, as they say, is history, but we couldn't resist listing off some of the ways Cameron's take on the story would have made the movie very, very different.

It Would Have Been A Monster MovieHad Cameron nabbed the rights to "Jurassic Park" before Spielberg, he planned to approach the project a bit differently. In fact, his adaptation would have been "'Aliens' with dinosaurs" and, as he noted, "that wouldn't have been fair." "Dinosaurs are for 8-year-olds. We can all enjoy it, too, but kids get dinosaurs and they should not have been excluded for that," Cameron said.

Those Kids Probably Would Have DiedCameron made it very clear in his HuffPo interview that he would not have made a movie for kids, which means the two grandchildren of John Hammond (the creator of Jurassic Park) probably wouldn't have gotten as much time in the spotlight. Even if they had a role in the movie, our guess is that one of them would have eaten it -- or been eaten.

It Would Have Been More ViolentIn Cameron's own words, he would have "gone further, nastier, much nastier" with "Jurassic Park." Know what that means? More violence and gore. We thought some parts of Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" were pretty rough anyways, so we can only imagine how much farther Cameron would have liked to go. A man getting bit in half by a Tyrannosaurus rex while going to the bathroom is pretty brutal as is. In all likelihood, Cameron would have stuck closer to some of the more violent parts of Crichton's novel.

It Wouldn't Have Had John WilliamsWhen we think "Jurassic Park," we think John Williams' score. The beloved composer already had a great working relationship with Spielberg by the time he made "Jurassic Park," having already scored "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade" and "Hook." Had Cameron sat in the director's chair, there's a small likelihood Williams would have been tasked with bringing "Jurassic Park's" triumphant theme into existence, and that would have been a real shame.

It Would Have Starred Arnold SchwarzeneggerOkay, we pulled that out of nowhere. But considering the success they had just had from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," why wouldn't Cameron think about reteaming with Arnold Schwarzenegger? Even if Cameron didn't cast the Governator has his lead, he could have considered having him stand in for the T. rex.

SCOTT WAMPLER wrote:Maybe you've noticed that James Cameron as not begun filming Avatar 2, and you've found yourself wondering how the hell he intends to meet that December, 2018 release date. Maybe you've been thinking that seems unlikely.

"Well, 2018 is not happening,” he told The Star ... “We haven’t announced a firm release date. What people have to understand is that this is a cadence of releases. So we’re not making Avatar 2. We’re making Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5. It’s an epic undertaking. It’s not unlike building the Three Gorges dam. (Laughs) So I know where I’m going to be for the next eight years of my life. It’s not an unreasonable time frame if you think about it. It took us four-and-a-half years to make one movie and now we’re making four. We’re full tilt boogie right now. This is my day job and pretty soon we’ll be 24-7. We’re pretty well designed on all our creatures and sets. It’s pretty exciting stuff. I wish I could share with the world. But we have to preserve a certain amount of showmanship and we’re going to draw that curtain when the time is right.”

Carolyn Giardina wrote:With an eye toward advancing cinema and providing the best possible presentation of the four planned Avatar sequels, James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment has renewed a five-year tech agreement with projector maker Christie.

As part of the pact, Christie will equip Lightstorm with the first of a new RGB laser projection series now in development– one that Christie expects will be more efficient than current systems.

Lightstorm will also have access to the Christie Mirage 4KLH RGB laser projection system—the model that Ang Lee employed on Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk as it is uniquely capable of handling 3D, 4K resolution at a high frame rate (HFR) of 120 frames a second. Conversely, Lightstorm will share with Christie its own findings into 3D, HFR and high-dynamic range (HDR), as well as formatting and color space requirements, aiding Christie in continued development.

Cameron has long said he wants to make his sequels to 2009's Avatar--which grossed $2.7 billion at the global box office--in 3D and incorporating the use of high frame rates. Accepting an award from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers last fall, he said of making the sequels: “I'm going to push. Not only for better tools, workflow, high dynamic range and high frame rates — the things we are working toward. I’m still very bullish on 3D, but we need brighter projection, and ultimately I think it can happen — with no glasses. We’ll get there.”

Of the deal with Christie, Cameron said in a statement: “To push the boundary of digital cinema, one needs visionary, like-minded collaborators and that description fits Christie to a tee. ... Several years ago we began our relationship, which has worked well, so I’m pleased to be forging ahead again with Christie at my side.”

Added Avatar producer Jon Landau: “Just as we push innovation with our productions, Christie is continually pushing innovation with their projection technology. Its advances in HDR development, epitomized by the co-development of the Dolby Vision projection solution with Dolby, means better in-theater experiences.”

The news of the Lightstorm/Christie deal comes as CinemaCon nears its close. Fox, the studio that will release the Avatar sequels, makes its slate presentation to theater owners on Thursday morning.

Said Jack Kline, chairman, president and CEO of all of Christie’s operating companies, worldwide.“In addition to the latest in projection technologies, Christie is fully committed to sharing our ongoing research and development efforts, including product roadmaps, with our co-visionary, Lightstorm, so that its productions will repeat the awe-inspiring success of Avatar in the years to come.”

On the other hand, underestimating James Cameron always turns out to be a mistake. Remember the reports coming out before Avatar premiered about how it cost $500 million to make and it was doomed to failure and Fox were such idiots? I don't think many people have been sitting around waiting for Avatar sequels, but that doesn't mean they won't clean up anyway.

Ribbons wrote:On the other hand, underestimating James Cameron always turns out to be a mistake. Remember the reports coming out before Avatar premiered about how it cost $500 million to make and it was doomed to failure and Fox were such idiots? I don't think many people have been sitting around waiting for Avatar sequels, but that doesn't mean they won't clean up anyway.

yeah, I was one of those who thought it was going to be a bust, it just didn't feel like it was going to be a blockbuster leading up to the opening. and that is after Cameron did the same thing with Titanic. i wouldn't bet against these movies making mega bank